Canned-goods cooker.



N. 823,523." PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

- G. P. GRAY.

CANNED GOODS COOKER.l APPLICATION FILED AUG. s1, 1905. zo Z9 r (l, (7 asHBETsf-SHEET j l l Z( I a `s;;.' *y/ 2 Z I 'W/TNEsLs-Es, A

.QZ/M2M@ No. 823,523. PTBNTED JUNE 19, 1906.

6.?. GRAY. GANNBD GOODS cooKBR. APPLICATION 'FILED A'UG. 31, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

" UNITED s'rnrns' PATEN T l oI-lnninsfr. GRAY, or INDIANAPOLIS, 1NDIANA, AssIeNonTo WALTER A.I4 l KNIGHT, TRUSTEE, or CINCINNATI, oI-no, I

l oANNEp-Goons cooKEn.

Application filed August .To a/ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. GRAY, a

citizen of the United-states, readings Indiana olis, vin the county'of Marlon and State of ndiana, haveinvented new and useful- Im' rovements in Canned-Goods Cookers, of

f whlchthe following is a specification. I

- My invention relates to' a canned-goods cooker, so'constructed-as to afford a virtually continuous operation of injecting uncooked goods and ejecting cooked goods.

Heretofore the cooking has been'chiefly in kettles adapted to be' filled with one or more baskets, eachusuallyvh'aving three layers of .cansand eachv basket being submerged and removed separately.` One objectionable re-v sult in this method of cooking is its inequality. l For instance, with. three. `baskets of y three layers each the top basket would be un:

derc'ooked, the bottom basket would be overcooked, while each middle layer 'of cans, being abutted and protected by the upper and -where other cookers are employe lower layers, would b e heated more slowly and necessarily cooked less. It is also appar-V ent that as the cans always remained in one position the goods failed tochange their position in the can, which is necessary for thor.-l

ough and rapid cooking. Another ob-j ection able feature with this kind of cooking is' the amount of labor required to handle the cans.

The object of my invention is to devise a machine which will sustain an even cooking.-y

that is, each can will beI submerged the same len th of time in thesuitably-heated fluid. I a so wish to diminish the amount oflabor to aY minimum, one man being able to take entire care of my machine. My machine keeps the contents of the cans.agitated,thus insuring correct and even cooking. The. floor-space occupied-is less than with'A any. other method used in cannin -factories 'In general my cooker includes in its construction two tanks, cylindrical'in shape, the A smaller one (the overflow-tank) inclosed in In said larger tank, rotatively attached to each end of short lshafts running horizontally into the tank from each end, is a spider.

Oneof these spiders may be attached to veach end of the small tank, and togethe'rv the sustain a plurality of carryingreels, whic rotate withthe spiders, said reels carrying the charge of cans. This main reelframe receives its motion from the shaft lSpeceation of ietters Patent'.

31,1905. saai No. 276,653.

' Patented June l19, 190e.

which shaft is driven by1worm-and-gear'or other convenient mechanism. The aperture which'entends into the tankfrom .the end'of. 5 'y the machine where the power is applied,

to receive :the charge is opened and closed automatically, and charging may be accomcharging is brought about by means of 'an plished by the force of gravity, whilethe disendless chain or other convenientmechanf ism s o Ijrovided and constructed as to accom'-l pllsh t 'e purpose and may or may not be assisted by gravity.

. In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is an'end elevation of my cooker with part of the large tank-'shell broken away,showing one reel in osition.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the plate w 'ch prevents the three frames of cans in each reel farthest away from the greatest circumferf encle of the large tank from rolling out of the lree s.

Fig. .3 is an isometric viewof one of the reels.

broken line a; ac in Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a' 'lan view of the upperV art of the track w ch prevents the reelsl o m revolving and also brings them into -a suitable position for being charged and discharged.' (Lower partbroken away.) Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view show- Ing circulationl of water and steam.

Referring tothe drawings, F is the lar e tank, with heads reinforced by braces 2, adapted to be set on a suitable foundation. Notshown in the drawings.) Hollow shafts K'K extend horizontally into the large tank' lF'from` each end. fShaft, K is journaled by journal b?, supported by bracket b5, while K is journaled by journal N, saidjournal .being supported in* any suitable manner. (Sup- 'port not shown in the drawings.)

Shaft A A is parallel tothe end .of tank F and is journaled by any4 suitable journals, as a, a4, a", and a, said journals being secured to supports P and' C, which rest on fou-nda#v tion. Near one -end of `shaft A and between supports B and C are pulleys a a2, attached to said shaft, one of said ulleys being loose, the other being the drive or the whole mech- Fig: 4 is a sectional view ofthe A large tank and Inclosed mechanism along the anism. Worm a3,-rotatively attached-'to shaft A, meshes with gear E, which is jourfnaled by journal b', said journal being sup. ported by bracket -1),.which is secured to 'support B. 'On the side of gear E and at a convenient distance' backfrom ts'periph'e'ryis a clutch member a, a" 1n operative contact,

the discharging o said clutch member a7 being s lined on shaft A. Lever-rod g5 connects wit disk g3, which is journaled in supports b", which in turn is held by support B. Also attached t0 Wheel g3 is lever-rod g2, said rod connecting with'lever-rod g', which is fulcrumed at bearing g7 Y by means of suitable support g8.

Rod g', by means of pin-joint g, connects with shutter G, which opens and closes the can-hopper entrance f 15.

Clutch member a is rotatively attached to shaft A. Clutch member a7, slidable on shaft A, is operated by combination-lever e2 e and camoove e Worm as, rotatively attached to shaft At, meshes with gear D, said gear being attached to shaft K.

A convenient device for ejecting cans from can-frames is provided as follows: At a convenient point on shaft A is rotatively attached small sprocket-wheel a1 0, over which a chain' a runs, then over the idle sprockets l and l5, and transmits power t0 sprocket l, which is attached t0 shaft l, said shaft being journaled in suppprtsff". Also attached to shaft Z9 is'sproc et-Wheel Z, from which a chain O runs to sprocket-Wheel Z13. (Shown in the drawin s, Fig. 1, dotted, just back of sprocket l2 an attached to the same shaft Z1? as that of sprocket Z2.) Shaft l is journaled in any suitable manner, as in the projecting part f 9 of tank F. Power being transmitted to sprocket Z2, as'aforedescribedaid sprocket transmits power to an endless chain L, which Works over idle sprocket l; Said chain L is provided with a projection l', which aids in the cans.

The reels H, of any suitable number, revolve with the reel formed by spiders I, said small reels being constructed with `two or more disks h h, containing two or more holes, each (shown in drawings with four holes) to admit cans. These disks are provided with a plurality of rodsh1 angle-irons, or the like-on their inner faces, which together form a suitable frame to hold the cans. Each of the ,disks his provided with passage-ways he, cut through fromthe openings h to the periphery to permit the unobstructed passa e of the extension-link l in ejecting the cans om the small reels onto a suitable platform W. A shaft h4 extends axiall through each of these reels and is journaledr in the spiders. Said shaft has attached near its extreme end and outside of the s ider, preferably on the ower end of the mac ine, a gear-Wheel h2. lFrom said gear pro'ects outwardly for pins h3, adapted to sli e around the track P, as shown in 5. Plate h5 is suitably fastened to journal of shaft h4, so as Vto prevent the cans of trac The teet of the gear-rackf3 mesh with the teeth of gear h2 and give it a quarter-turn, f

thus revolving each reel H one-fourth turn when it reaches the roper point.

At. the same end o the machine as the ear h2 is attached to the tank in any convenient manner (in the drawings riveted to the head) a circular track P with slot p3, adapted to receive and hold two of the pins h3 at a time, or the pins may simply run over or under a raised ortion, as 4, as a guide. A portion p P is broen away to allow for the quarter-turning aforedescribed-that is, the track P at this point no longer holds the reels against turning. The horizontal portion of the track p p2 causes the floor of the top frame of the reels aforedescribed to become horizontal, thus affording a more convenient charging and discharging of the cans. Stuffing-boxes c k keep water from leaking out of tank F.

Pipe S (see Fig. 6) connects with any convenient water-supply and may be in such a position that by opening the valve s the wa-` ter can flow into the opening at the top of the tank F. Steam-pipe R connects with a suitable steam-reservoir (not shown) and near the tank connects with two branch pipes r and r. Pipe 1 conveys the steam to t e bottom of tank F, where one or more pi es r3 enter the tank. Said pipe or pipes r3 ie along the bottom of the tank F, preferably extending the full length of said tank, and that ortion of said pipe r3 which is on the insi e of the tank F is perforated, allowing the steam to escape in the fluid in the said tank F, and thus raise said fluid to the desired temperature for cooking.

When injecting cans into the empty or partially-em ty cooker, there is a constant overflow, W ch is caused by the displacement of the water from the cans coming in at the momentary full stop and provision 1s necessary to take care of this overfiow, which provision consists of a combination of valves, pipes, and the tank M. When the cans enter the reels, the water displaced by them runs into a suitable receptacle F', situated near the place of exit of the cans. Leading from said receptacle through the shaft K into the tank M and extending to its bottom is a pi e s', at arconvenient point on which is chec valve s2, which allows the Water to'flow in only one direction, as indicated by arrow.

loat-valve r* 1s connected, by means of 4o 'f f with water in the manner afored'escribed and ally-sealed cans' allowed" to pass4 into one` -ever f1.2 'receptacle f f* bymeans of rod f 11, said rece e t@ scarf, which is ausland-ed in tacle'being 1n open connection with tank Pipefrleads from' said 'float-valve .through the center of shaft `K, into tank M and-extends to nearth'e to of said tank. Connect-` ing pipe 1" to` tank is Ipipe 1', at a convenient point on Whichis float-valve r, .attached l is cl'bsed, and viceversa.

The operation ofthi'xsystem of pipes' is as follows: kAssume 'that the' charging hasjbee oing oni for some time and that theoveriio'w' "into the tank M and also that subsequentto uid .above "alluded to has. been'cnveyed such overflow from lthe loss of fluid by evap- 4 oration the yiiuid has sunk .in` tank' F below the desired level.: If this is'the case, the

lfloat 1 3. would sink, the valve 41'? would be opened, andvalve 1'5. .would be closed. The

steamby means of pipe-1"y would pass into srnall'tank M at 1'?, exert pressure on the fluid'. said tank, and causesaid fluid to' rise ink ipes-'s As the check-.valve s would notalv ow 4the-fluid to'pass through it flowing in the above-'stated direction, said fluid would be forced up through pipe s3, as indicated by arrow, whlchwould convey it back into tank F. The fluid by this means- Would continue to flo'wfromsmall tank M into the lar e tankA F untill the predetermined level of iiui would be reached', when the float f 13 would be raised by force of buoyance, fand thus close valve r4, shutting 0H the steam andopening ,valve 15,

j allowing the excess of steaminl tankM to.

pass into the large tank F throughopening The operation y-of the cooker mehanismis as follows; AfterV the tank has beenffilled the steam `has heated it tothe cooking temperature, assuming that'the'clu'tch' a7. isv out of contact with the clutch a",l the shutterGr` in `this case would be up and the-.hermeticlframe of a reel H, vwhich at-that time would. be' in suitable positionv to receive 'said cans. Now the belt (not shown in the-drawings) could be shifted from the loose tothe tight pulley on shaft A. -Then'said shaft A'wold egin to revolve, transmitting the same movement to Wormaa, Whichjn `turn wouldcause 'gear E tofrevolve. The pin e, working 1n cam e and attached to lever e', in following 1thegrooved cam would cause the said lever e to be drawn tow-ard the rightas'the observer would view the cooker in Fig. 1-. This motion of'lever e', lwith the aid of spring a5 and lever e2, Would cause the clutch a, a7 to comem'posltlve contact.

As lever gs by `means of lever e and cam e is' drawn to the right or in the same direction as themotion of e disk g3, lwith which lever gvconnec'ts, revolves the same direction that' lever e is moved, and by this motion bent lever is forced u Ward:l Since'lever arts its .motion to ever the shutter g 11n G, W 'chconnects with g', is c osed. As the clutch a Vis now invcontact, the whole shaft A` A- is revolving, and b'y'nieans of Worm a?" motion isimparted to gear `D and lshaft K 'causinasaid shaft to revolve and also ree formed b spiders I, which carries-the small reels. T e .small reel, which is to have its .15' top frame` of cans discharged, is turned onefourth =Way round, when .it is just` at xthe j broken-out portion p of track P. The turn- .jngis accom lished by the meshing of earteeth h2. wit :teeth of ear-rack f3 an the motion of the spider.

follow the groove p3 of the track andthe Hoor Vof theu per row of cans in this reel lis brought toa orizontal position by means of 4the deflected portion p of track?. Just at thispoint the clutch member a7 is drawn from contact with a by the same levers and when working lin the .direction necessary to throw the clutch in contact. i

Thev chain L, which receives its motion through combinations of sprockets and .--chains aforedescribe'd, is so timed that at y this full. momentary stop the projection l".

comes vjust behind the 'first can in the reel whose top frame is being discharged. -At -all other times this projection Z. does not inter cept any lof the other mechanism. The chain is'behind the last can, an pushes them 'alloutlat the'exitf .10. lAt-the same time the 4reel to be discharged of theload of cans in Vits upper framev comes into `position the reel which was discharged just before the one dscribed .moved around and by means of the deflected portion p2 of track-P has had the i iioor of its .top frame brought to a .horizontal position, .and as the entrance. is open the ter the said turning has taken-place the pins h3 are in osition to.-

loo

. moves along, carrying the pre'ection Z', which TTO ermetically-sealed cans will bevallowed to rolldown into said reel along any suitable track 20 on theoutside leading tothe cans entrance. f

It cani readily be seen that the continuous olperation of this machine is a re etition of t ese actions in the foregoing escription.

.Alsofit is self-evident that each can will bev submerged the same length. oftime that it takes the spider to make four complete revo- `lutions, as each reel H is revolved one-fourth turn only veach time it passes the gear-rack f 3 v95 considering the description of their-action 1 Any means of changing the speed of the main shaft A A will give the several lengths of time required for cooking different canned articles, such as vegetables, fruits, meats, &c.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure byLetters Patentof the United States- 1. A canned-goods cooker having atank adapted to hold the cooking liquid, a main revolving reel within said tank, a plurality of secondary reels sustained upon said main reel, a plurality of can-frames formed within said secondary reels; means for depositing cans into and ej ecting cans from said frames, means for properly actuating said mechanism and means for heating the cooking fluidin said tank to cook the goods.

2. A canned-goods cooker havin a main tank adapted to hold the cooking main reel revolving Within said tank, a plurality of revolving secondar reels sustained upon said main reel, a p uralit of cani'rames Jformed Within said secon ary reels, means for depositing cans into and ejecting cans from said frames, a secondary tank, pipes and valves connecting said main. and secondary tanks, means for actuating said cooker mechanism, and means for heating the cooking fluid in said tank to cook the goods.

3. In a canned oods cooker a main cooking-tank, a 4secon ary tank within the main tank, pipe and valve connections adapted to convey an excess of fluid from the mam tank to the secondary tank and vice versa, lpipe connections leading from steam-supply to two points within the secondary tank and one in main tank, a valve on said steampipes leading from said steam-supply to one point in said secondary tank and another on pipe leading to said main tank, and means for automatically operating said valves by the rise and fall of fluid in themain tank.

4. In a cooker for canned goods a plurality of reels adapted to be rotated, a plurality of frames in said reels, adapted to receive and hold cans, means for depositing said cans by gravity, and means for ej ecting said cans.

5. In a cooker for canned goods a plurality of reels adapted to be rotated, a plurality of Open-ended can-frames in said reels, adapted 4to receive a plurality of cylindrical cans, means for closing the open ends of said frames at all points except where opened for quid, a

depositing or receiving cans, and means for suitably rotating said reels.

6. In a cooker for canned goods a tank foi` the cooking iiuid an overflow-tank, suitable steam and fluid connections between said tanks, can-carrying mechanism within said main tank, mechanism for alternately rotating and stopping said can-carrier, means for ej-ecting said cans from the carrier and means or automatically closing and opening the entrance for cans.

7. `In combination with a canned-goods cooker, reels, I-I, having two or more disks, h, having a plurality of can-openings, h', connected with the periphery by spaces, h", frame sides, k7, shaft, h4, extending axially through the reel, ear, h2, rotativel attached to said shaft, an as man pins, 3, fixed in the side of said gear, as t ere are frames in the reel.

8. A canned-goods cooker having a tank, F, adapted to contain the cooking substance, said tank having a suitable can 1nlet at one end and outlet at the other, an overflowtank, M, within the main tank, spiders, I, I, one rotatively attached to each end of tank, M, a revolvin reel, shafts, K, K', upon which in suitab e ournals main reel revolves,

va plurality of small revolving reels 1H, with a plurality of can-frames therein, a gear, h2, with pins, ha, on the shaft, h, of each reel, H, a track, P, with slot, p", in which pins, ha, are adapted to slide, rack, f3, adapted to engage gear, h2, at the opening, p, in track, P, said opening in track defiections p', p2, in track, P, to carry upper reel-frames into registry with tank inlet and outlet, plate, h5, ring, f', sprocket-chain, L, carrying projection, l', adapted to e'ect cans from frame, means for intermittently actuating said sprocket-chain, the shutter, G, and attendant mechanism adapted to intermittently rise and fall to admit and shut oi cans from reel-frames, and the main driving-shaft, A, A', and attendant parts, gear, D, and the attendant parts.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set` my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. GRAY.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH R. GARDNER; CARROLL H. RICHARDS.` 

